Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a surgical device, in particular for minimally invasive surgery, provided with a shaft having a distal end to which a surgical instrument is mounted or mountable and a proximal end equipped for handling the instrument.
Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,992 discloses an instrument for obtaining a tissue sample from a site deep within a patient's body. The instrument is provided with a shaft having a distal end to which a jaw lime member is mounted for taking the tissue sample, and a proximal end equipped for handling the jaw lime member. The shaft is at least in part hollow and the jaw lime member is mounted on inserts that are longitudinally movable in said shaft parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, and said inserts are provided diametrically opposed to each other within the shaft.
As minimally invasive operations are performed through small portals and the manipulation possibilities of the known surgical instruments are limited, gaining access to the pathology site can be challenging. This is especially true for body cavities with confined spaces and few available access portals such as the human knee or ankle joint. On top of that, the tissue located in these particular body cavities (cartilage, ligaments) are typically much tougher to machine (cut, punch) than in other areas of the human body, such as those in the abdominal area. As a result, a number of problems exist. The confined space wherein a known surgical device with relatively poor manipulation properties is used causes an undesirable extension of the operation time, as surgeons are forced to interchange several instruments to cut the target tissue entirely. Moreover, healthy tissues are at risk, because surgeons can accidentally load the tissue surrounding the access portals too strongly in their efforts to reach the pathologic area. Further there is the risk that the surgeon introduces more bacteria in the body cavity when required to frequently exchange the cutting instruments, and to damage tissues when inserting instruments as this process is performed blindly. Finally, surgeons can develop health problems related to the used instruments with poor maneuverability, such as blisters, muscle soreness, fatigue, and early signs of arthritis.
The invention intends to address these problems and proposes for this purpose a surgical device and a separate shaft for such a surgical device, having the features of one or more of the appended claims.